Jeremiah Buys a Field During the Siege

32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord ^(A)in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, ^(B)which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. ² At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet ^(C)was shut up in ^(D)the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah. ³ For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying, “Why do you prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(E)Behold, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall capture it;

⁶ Jeremiah said, “The word of the Lord came to me: ⁷ Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, ^(A)‘Buy my field that is at ^(B)Anathoth, ^(C)for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.’ ⁸ Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in ^(D)the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, ‘Buy my field that is at ^(E)Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.’ Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

⁹ “And I bought the field at ^(F)Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and ^(G)weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. ^10 (H)I signed the deed, ^(I)sealed it, ^(J)got witnesses, and ^(K)weighed the money on scales. ¹¹ Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. ¹² And I gave the deed of purchase to ^(L)Baruch the son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel my cousin, in the presence of ^(M)the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in ^(N)the court of the guard. ¹³ I charged ^(O)Baruch in their presence, saying, ¹⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware vessel, that they may last for a long time. ¹⁵ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and ^(P)fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.’